Cyberchase Origins: The Book of Chaos
by BlackShadowScythe
Summary: The Hacker has finally run out of schemes. One day he comes across a mysterious book that tells a legend of the Queen of Chaos who was sealed away by Motherboard. Hacker comes up with a plan to release the Queen of Chaos and manipulate her into helping him conquer Cyberchase. I came up with the idea of a Queen of Chaos from the character Ann Arki who appeared in "Chaos as Usual"
1. The Book

******Cyberspace**

**_At the dawn of Cyberspace, a powerful tyrant ruled over the Cyberworld, calling herself the Queen of Chaos. She was clever, arrogant and worst of all sadistic. The people feared their Queen for anyone who dared to oppose her rule quickly disappeared with a trace._**

**_After millenniums of the same harsh rule, a new leader emerged. This ruler, who went by the name of Motherboard, was a kind and capable leader as well as a power presence in the Cyberworld. She quickly gained the favor of many of the citizens of Cyberspace and by extension, the fiery hatred of the Queen._**

**_The Queen of Chaos, trying to secure her reign, attempted to destroy Motherboard. Motherboard, in trying to protect the world she held so dear from a dangerous and unruly dictator, banished the Queen of Chaos and sealed her away in temple on a Cyberchase far from the rest of Cyberspace._**

Doctor Marbles closed the book and set it down on the counter top. "It is our job to protect Cyberspace of the threat of Chaos and ensure that the Queen does not return." Doctor Marbles explained looking at his assistant seated across the table from him. "We must always thrive to maintain Order within the Cyberworld and uphold justice the best we can."

"I understand, Doc." Hacker nodded.

... many years later

* * *

**Earth**

Jackie lay on her bed, staring up at the ceiling. It had been months since Motherboard had called for them. In a way, it made her happy that Hacker wasn't trying to conquer Cyberspace, but she missed seeing Digit and the rest of her friends in the Cyberworld.

As she lay quietly, she found herself almost wishing that Hacker would think of another of his crazy, evil plans. It would mean she would be able to go back to Cyberspace. She quickly shook of this thought. It was wrong to wish for trouble just because it would be convenient for her. She walked over to her desk and picked up a phone. Just because Cyberspace wasn't in danger, didn't mean she couldn't hang out with the friends she had on earth. She would miss her friends in Cyberspace, but she couldn't let it hold her back. Soon, she would turn twelve soon and after that, she, Inez and Matt were going to middle school. It was time to turn over a new leaf and embark on the new chapter of her life.

* * *

**North Frontier**

Hacker slammed is fist down on the control pad. "Those pesky Earth brats! If I ever get my hands on them I'll-" he stopped. "I need a new plan." He scribble some notes onto a piece of paper, looked at it for a moment then scratched it out and tossed the paper over his shoulder. Over the years, he had come up with plan after plan to take over Cyberchase, but time after time, one after the other, his plans were shot down by the "Earthlies".

Now, those days seemed far off. It seemed eons since he had last thought of a satisfying scheme. He rose from his chair and started pacing back and forth across the control room of the Wreaker. He needed a new plan, quickly. But what? He was so enveloped in his thoughts he failed to notice the bookshelf he had recently installed in the control room and slammed into it, head-first.

The bookcase collapsed on of him, sending dusty volumes scattering across the shiny checkered floor of the Wreaker. "Buzz! Delete! Get this thing off me! NOW!" he shouted.

"Right away boss." his henchmen cried as they scurried into the room. The two of them got on either side of the bookcase and lifted it back into an upright position.

Hacker got to his feet and dusted off his cape. "Now clean up this mess!" he demanded pointing to the scattered tombs. As he began walking back to his chair, a purple hardcover caught his eye. He picked it up and flipped through it. "What's this?" his eyes widened in surprise. "Yes! Yes!"

"What is it Boss?" Buzz asked. The bowling ball sized bot hopped up at down on his tiny legs in a fruitless attempt to look over the shoulder of his much taller employer.

"This" Hacker said grinning evilly and holding the book up far beyond Buzz's reach, "is the key to shutting Motherboard down! Once and for all!"

* * *

**I may end up changing some of this. Depends on what I think of it later. I don't have much experience writing fanfictions or really anything at all so I don't know if it's even any good. **


	2. Return to the Land of Chaos

**Earth**

"Come on guys we need to focus." Inez said, setting a pile of thick volumes on the table. "We need to get started on our history paper or we'll never finish in time."

Jackie reached for a book off the top of the stack. The cover read, "Tales of Ancient Greece."

"Come on Matt." Inez cried. She looked over at the red haired boy who was leaning against a bookcase playing with his yo-yo. "I thought you liked Greek stuff."

"Exactly" Matt said, careful not to lose rhythm in his hand. His yo-yo spun at the bottom of the string then hovered foward several inches as if it were a dog trying to escape its leash. "So that means that I already know all that stuff. Let's just start with the writing already." he said impatiently.

"Hey look at this." Jackie said. She turn the book she was reading around so that her friends could easily read its contents.

"The Judgement of Paris." Inez read. The page depicted a picture of a man with curly hair and dressed in traditional Greek robes. Beneath the portrait was a painting of a beautiful woman with wings and flowing black hair.

"That's Paris of Troy." Matt said pointing to the man. "And that-" Suddenly the portrait of Paris went blurry. Inez rubbed her eyes. Maybe she had been staring at the books for too long, she thought. When she opened them again she could hardly believe what she saw.

"Motherboard?!" Jackie cried.

"Hacker alert! Hacker alert!" Motherboard said.

"Where Motherboard? Where's Hacker?" Inez asked.

"Topsy Turvy Island." Motherboard replied. "Must stop. All of Cyberspace. At stake." Suddenly the image of Motherboard rippled and warped into a pink and purple portal. Inez felt the energy of the portal begin to pull her in. She lunged forward on her own power and was sucked into the purple abyss.

* * *

**Somewhere in Space**

"So Boss." Buzz asked, nervously "What's the plan?"

Hacker tapped a button on the control panel of the Wreaker. A screen flashed the words 'Auto Pilot: On' in green letters. Hacker turned in his chair and dropped the book onto the floor of the Wreaker. The words, 'Book of Chaos' were printed in small golden letters on the cover. The villains bent down and flipped the book to a page.

"What do you see?"

"Ah? A building?" Buzz said.

"Oh! And it has pretty drawings on the top!" Delete chimed in.

"That is the temple of chaos!" Hacker cried. "Eons ago chaos roamed rampant and free in cyberspace! The Queen of Chaos ruled supreme! Then Motherboard and that fool Marbles sealed the Queen of Chaos away creating order and harmony. Everyone was happy! And I was miserable!" he shouted. "Those 'pretty drawings' will be the key to my new plan!" Hacker explained. "Every thousand cyberyears, an solar eclipse turns Topsy Turvy Island into an amalgamation of day and night. During this time the seal in the temple will be weakened and the Queen of Chaos will rise again!"

"Ah, so what do we do?" Buzz asked.

"Listen carefully..."

* * *

**Topsy Turvy Island**

"Come on, Come on where are those kids." Digit said as he paced back and forth nervously. What if he were to run into Hacker before they arrived? What if Hacker were to complete his goal, whatever it was, before they could stop him? After all he had already gotten a big head start. Motherboard had been in sleep mode for hours while the Doc was installing some new program he said might boost her immunity to the virus. As soon as she was rebooted, Motherboard had picked up the Grimm Wreaker's rising energy levels as Hacker flew his airship to Topsy Turvy Island.

Hacker could be anywhere on the island by now and they didn't even have a clue about what he was planning. The borg hadn't brought any equipment with him to the island other then the Wreaker and his actively as of late had been at any all time low.

"Ah!" Digit cried. He leaped backwards and fell onto his back as a large spiraling void appeared in front of him. A moment later Matt, Inez and Jackie flew out of the void and landed on top of the cybird.

"Sorry Dige." Inez said as she got to her feet.

"So what is Hacker up to his time?" Matt asked.

"I don't know Motherboard didn't tell me." Digit replied. He had hoped that Motherboard would have at least told the Cybersquad what Hacker was planning to do, but it looked as if for once even Motherboard was unsure. "She just said that we have to stop him no matter what!"

"She said the same thing to us." Jackie said.

"How are we suppose to find him if we don't even know what he's after?" Matt asked.

"Ordinarily," Inez said, pushing her glasses up, "the best thing we could do was to ask the locals if they've seen Hacker."

"But no one lives on Topsy Turvy Island." Digit replied.

"Right. Cause the island turns inside out at sun down so it's impossible for anyone to live here." Inez explained.

Jackie walked over the the center of the clearing. "Make room I've got to pace." she said.

Before she could take a step, a shadow stretched across the grass, blocking the sunlight. Jackie whirled around, "Hacker!"

* * *

**Unknown**

"I. Am. Bored." a voice said.

A large computer monitor flickered on and a single red line appeared on the screen. "I suggest a vacation" said a voice from within the screen. The line vibrated up and down violently with each word. "The Northern Frontier perhaps?"

"There's nothing there, but nothingness."

"How about-"

"No."

"You didn't even-"

"No."

"Can you let me-"

"No."

"Is over 500 cybersites not enough leg room for you?"

"Actually it's not."

"Well then what about the black hole? I hear the disposal prices are going down."

"I'm starting to remember why I drew out those plans for your replacement."

"If you were going to replacement you would have done it already." the screen retorted. There was a long pause. "You have visitors." the screen announced, changing the subject.

"Ha! I knew it! Borgs have been coming here!" the first voice said, sounding slightly relieved. "Quick! Who are they? Please don't let it me missionaires!" The picture on the screen instantly changed into a picture of a black airship landing on a hill dotted with shrubs. "What is that?" The door of the Wreaker opened and a ramp slid out. "Who are those guys?"

"The intruders."

"I know that! But what are their names?! Which site did they come from?! And what" the voice shouted, "are they doing here?!"

"Well how should I know?" the screen complained, "You didn't make me psychic."

"Wait." the voice said, "What is the green one holding?" The picture on the screen zoomed into a thick, hardcover purple tomb. "That's-"

"Shall I eject our intruders?" the screen asked.

"No. If he's here Motherboard won't be far behind."

"Well technically-"

"Yes I know! She's computer! She has no legs! Just shut up!" the voice growled.

"No need to be so rude." the screen said, "I was just going to say that it seems like the population on this island has just increased."

"What?" The picture on the screen changed to a view of a swirling pink and purple portal.

**"Intruder identified: cybird_._"**

"You realize there are five of them right?"

**"Error: Access lifeforms unidentified."**

"Open exit 12. I'm going to have a look myself."


	3. Morally Ambiguous

**Topsy Turvey Island**

"Hacker!" Jackie cried in shock, but it wasn't Hacker. Instead was a young girl with long, dark purple hair that was tied up into a pony tail on one side and bright green eyes. She wore a baggy white suit with lavender blotches and two pockets located at her thighs. The left leg of the suit was decorated in a moon and star pattern with a black background and a yellow sun was stitched onto the left. The girl, who look to be around their age, was crouched on top of a huge boulder, staring at the group with suspicion in her gaze.

"What are you doing on this island?!" the girl demanded, "And who are you?"

"We're not here to make trouble." Inez said, lifting her hands to show that they were empty, "Motherboard sent us."

"Motherboard?" the girl said, she looked surprised.

"Right." Inez said, nodded, "I'm Inez." she introduced, "And these are my friends Matt, Jackie and Digit. What's your name?" she asked.

"I don't have one." the girl, indifferently.

"Maybe I can guess." Inez said, gently. "Is it Rebecca? Jane? Lucy?"

"There's no way you could possibly guess it." the girl said, "Cause I've already told you I don't have a name."

"Everyone has a name." Matt put in.

"Tch." she snorted in disdain, "No one lives on this island, but me. There never was, there never will be. I don't have a name because even if I did there would be anyone here to call me by it." She leaped off the boulder and landed on her hands and feet in front of Inez. "But if you insist you may call me Angelica."

Angelica leaned forward until her and Inez's faces were barely an inch apart. She glared at her and tilted sideways, scrutinizing either sides of her neck. "Motherboard sent us." Inez repeated, clearly uncomfortable with the treatment she was retrieving.

"You're not from around here are you?" Angelica said, raising an eyebrow and looking around at each of the children. "You're human maybe?"

"How did you know?" Jackie asked, shocked. She had been to dozens of different cybersites while trying to stop Hacker and his evil plans. There were many different types of cyborgs and while some, like the inhabitants of Poddleville, were obviously not human there were others like Slider and Ledge who looked like they might have been from Earth.

Angelica shook her finger at them, "I'll never tell." she smiled, mischievously.

"Motherboard sent us on a mission." Matt reminded them.

"A quest?". Matt nodded. "What are you looking for?"

"She didn't tell us." Digit said, "She just said that we would have to find it before Hacker does which mean we have to start looking and fast!"

* * *

Topsy Turvy Island hadn't changed a bit since the last time Matt had visited. The forest seemed to have a mind its own. Flowers would pop out of the ground and bloom in a matter of seconds, then sink back into the ground, only to reappear in another spot. The trees would grow saplings which would quickly turn into full grown leaves and fruit which would wither and die seconds later only to turn into new leaves. To make things even more confusing, all the trees seemed to grow and die at different rates and Matt found it almost impossible to keep track.

"It's easy once you see the pattern." Angelica said, noticing Matt's fixation on the unusual landscape. She leaped into the air, reaching for the branch on a dying apple tree. A moment later, the tree blossomed and she picked a ripe red apple off the branch just as the remainder of the apples rotted and fell to the ground, vanishing into the dirt. She smiled holding up the apple so Matt could see. She tossed the apple into the air and caught it, then she lifted one leg and pulled her arm back. "Here, catch!" she said as she tossed the apple like a baseball in Matt's direction.

The apple whizzed past the boy's head. "Hey!" he cried as the apple suddenly appeared in his hands. Matt stared at the apple in surprise. He turned and looked at the ground behind him, half expecting to find another apple on the ground. There was nothing.

"Haha! Nice!" Angelica smiled, then she turned to the others. "So does Motherboard send you on these sort of missions often?"

"Not recently" Jackie said, "But she used to call us all the time."

"So what happened?"

"I don't know. I guess she just didn't need us cause there wasn't any trouble."

"Trouble huh?" Angelica sighed. "You mean like that Hacker guy you mentioned before right?"

"Ah huh." Inez said.

"Are you saying you never heard of Hacker?!" Digit cried in disbelief.

Angelica shook her head. "What's he like?"

"He's a big fat liar." Matt said, before Jackie or Inez had a chance to reply. "A person who doesn't care about anyone, but himself and will do anything including lie, cheat and steal to get his way."

"Heh," Angelica grinned, "He sounds like a really interesting kind of person."

How could this girl say something like that?, Matt thought. "Absolutely not!" he shouted out loud, "He's the one that gave the virus to Motherboard! Not only that!" he added, "He's attacked dozens of cybersites! One time he hacked into the satellite reservoirs and released cyberstatic into Cyberspace!" Matt continued to recount how Hacker had tried to shut down Control Central using the cyberstatic.

Angelica listened intently and nodded occasionally. When Matt finished she started laughing. "It sounds like you had a great time!"

"No!" Matt cried in frustration. Why didn't she get it?! "He's the bad guy!"

"Really?" Angelica said, she looked genuine surprised. "Cause the way I see it he's the only reason you all are here in the first place."

"But he's evil!" Matt protested, "We been here all this time trying to stop him!"

"And didn't you have a good time?" Angelica asked, grinning.

"Now that you mention it," Jackie said, holding a finger to her chin. "I guess if Motherboard hadn't gotten the virus, we wouldn't be here and we never would have met Digit, Dr. Marbles and everyone else."

"I envy you" Angelica sighed, "for having exciting moments like that."

"What's wrong with you!" Matt cried, staring at Inez and Jackie, "Who's side are you on! Are you seriously saying that you want Hacker to take over Cyberspace?!"

"That's not what we're saying." Inez said shaking her head, "But what Angelica says does make sense."

"Argh!" Matt groaned, "I can't believe you!" He turned around and started walking in the opposite direction as the rest of the group.

"Matt where are you going!" Jackie cried.

"Come back!" Inez pleaded, but Matt ignored them and was soon out of sight.


	4. Splitting Up

**Note**: _This _is used to indicate thoughts.

**Note**: **This **is used to indicate written words on a computer or in a book.

* * *

**Topsy Turvey Island**

"Hmm" Angelica mumbled, as she watched Matt walk off into the trees. "Maybe I shouldn't have said that."

"Maxter, wait!" Digit shouted. He flew after the boy and soon disappeared into the trees after him.

"Digit!" Inez cried running after her friend, "We have to try to stick together."

"Inez wait." Angelica said, calmly, putting her hand on the girl's shoulder. Her expression was stern and she seemed more serious than usual. "I don't think it's a good idea to wander off the path. Not only do the trees and plants grow unusually, but the landscape itself shifts from time to time. If you wander off the path, even I can't predict where you'll end up."

"If it's dangerous then we have to stop them!" Jackie protested.

Angelica shook her head. "If Motherboard can make a portal like you say, she can make one to take them off the island if they get into trouble. We had to keep looking for Hacker."

"I guess." she said hesitantly.

_Good. She bought it..._

Inez nodded, "It'll be easier to find Hacker if we split up. I just wish there was another way."

"What do you mean?" Angelica asked.

"Well, Matt's our friend." Inez replied, "So it feels wrong to fight."

Angelica shrugged. She didn't understand what these Earth kids were blabbing about. She had already said that Matt would be fine. He could wander in the trees a while then find a path. Or, if he did, he could just go back to Motherboard. So what was the problem? "I'm sure he'll be over it by the time we find Hacker."

As Angelica led the group through the forest, a thought crossed her mind. Could Hacker be the green borg she saw back at the base? He had the book with him so...

"By any chance does your friend Hacker happen to have any accomplices?" she asked.

"Accomplices?" Jackie echoed.

"It means partners." Inez, who was good with words, said.

"Well, he has Buzz and Delete." Jackie said to Angelica.

_It's him..._

"Interesting." she whispered.

"Hacker's not a good person." Inez declared.

"Oh I have no doubt about that." Angelica said, smiling.

"Then why did you say that to Matt?" Jackie asked.

"I didn't say he was a good person." she laughed, "In fact, I'm sure he's a horrible person, the worst, dreadful..." then she whispered softly, "But then again where would we be without people like that?"

* * *

"Matt where are we going?" Digit asked, trying to keep up with his much taller friend. The trees of the forest grew densely, making it almost impossible for him to hover without his tail knocking into one of the tree trunks and blowing out his motor, so he had been grounded and had to run to keep up with Matt who's single stride was equal to two or three of his steps.

"To find out more about Angelica." Matt replied, "I have a feeling she knows more about all this then she's letting on."

"You think she works for Hacker?"

"No, but I don't trust her." he grumbled, "She's hiding something, and I want to know what."

"What about finding the Hacker?"

Matt reached into his bag and pulled out his Squatpad. "I've already figured that out." he said smiling. He turning the Squat onto its map setting and showed it to Digit. Most of the map was covered with trees and mountainous terrain. A single river spanned nearly the entire length of the screen, ending in a large lake on the west side of the island. At the center of the map was a picture of a building. "This is a map of the island." Matt said, then he pointed at the building. "That's the only structure on this whole island and I bet anything that, that's where Hacker's headed."

"What is that place anyways?" Digit asked, "I didn't even know it existed."

"The Squat says it's called the... Temple of Chaos."

* * *

"It's called the Temple of Chaos and it's probably where a guy like him'll be headed I reckon." Angelica said. "I can lead you to it, but you guys'll have to do something for me."

"Sure." Inez said, "What can we do for you?"

"You can take me back with you to see Motherboard. I haven't seen her in years and by the looks of things I have a lot of catching up to do."

"You know Motherboard?" Jackie said, surprised.

"Who doesn't know Motherboard?"

"No, I mean personally?"

"Oh. Pfft!" Angelica said, making a small swipe in the air with her hand. "Of course. We go way back." She out one hand to Inez, "So, do we have a deal?"

Inez reached out and shook Angelica's hand. "Deal."

Angelica grinned widely, "Good. Now let's go find Hacker!"


	5. Spiders and Surprises

"So, how far is this temple?" Jackie asked. She looked up at the sky. The sun was starting to lean to the west. Soon the sun would set and the island would turn inside out. They had to find Hacker and leave before then or...

"Not too far now." Angelica replied, "We're almost there."

Jackie nodded, but she still felt nervous, not just for themselves, but for Matt and Digit who they had left behind. What if they ran into trouble or got hurt? She was so busy thinking about the two boys that she forgot to watch where she was going and slammed head-first into a tree.

"Jackie?! Are you right?" Inez cried, running over to inspect her best friend.

"Fine just..." She rubbed her sore head and stared at the tree. The trunks were stick thin and as black as burnt toast. It looked nothing like the tree she had seen before. She looked around and saw that there were several more that looked alike. "These trees are weird and ew, ew and double ew!" she said as she noticed the long hairs growing on them.

"Ah, Jackie?" Inez said nervously as she tapped her friend on the back.

"What?" Jackie said. She turned to look at Inez who was pointing upwards. She looked in the direction Inez was pointing and saw that the sky was block out by something large, round, black, hair and... had a head. A chill crept up her spine as she realized what it was.

"Stay calm." Inez warned. "It hasn't seen us yet. Maybe we can sneak passed it." she suggested.

Jackie nodded, closing her eyes and trying not to scream. Suddenly something soft and sticky landed on her head. She looked up at saw that she was sitting directly under the spider's spinnerets. A look of horror crossed her face when she realized what the sticky substance was and she completely lost it. "SPIDER!" she screamed at the top of her lungs.

Angelica, who had continued walked although nothing had happened, looked back at the girls, and taking notice of the giant spider said, "Ha ha, you were being so quiet I didn't even notice you there. How's it been?" Then she turned to the girls who were both screaming at this point and said, "Oh I forgot, in the human world spiders are usually smaller I'm I right?"

Angelica held out her hands and a screen and keypad appeared in mid air. Both the screen and keypad were paper thin and transparent. "Rewriting program." she said and went to work typing. She typed a bunch of 0s and 1s on the the screen seemingly arbitrarily. When she was done she punched in "enter" on the keypad. "Rewritten." she said as the 0s and 1s flew off the screen and engulfed the spider.

The spider glowed purple and split into three spiders, each the size of large dogs. "There." Angelica said, "All better!"

"Except that spiders on Earth are usually _this_ big." Jackie said, using her fingers to show Angelica how big. "And even then they're ew, ew and double ew!"

"Silly!" Angelica laughed, "If their _that _big," she imitated Jackie's hand gesture, "Then how are we suppose to **ride** them?"

"RIDE!" both girls said in unison.

* * *

"The Temple should be just beyond those trees." Matt said.

"Great!" said Digit. The little cybird was nearly out of breath as he struggled to keep up with his much taller companion.

"Hang in there Dige, we're almost th-" Matt ended his sentence erupted as a trap door opened beneath his feet and he plunged, into what seemed to be the world's deepest pitfall trap.

"Ah!" Digit cried, as he fell in after him. Something big and soft broken their fall.

Matt looked. They had landed on a large lavender cushion in what appeared to be an underground cavern. That was the good new. The bad news was that when he looked up, there seemed to be no way to get back up the way they fell. The tunnel was narrow and went almost directly upward, making it too difficult to climb. Matt sighed. He would have to find another way out and hurry, before the sunset.

_Sunset!_

"Hey Maxter!" Digit cried. Matt turned and followed the sound of the Digit's voice into a hallway which lead into a large, well lit room complete with furniture. There was a bed, couch, desk and a screen which seemed to resemble the one in Control Center hanging from the wall. He opened a mini fridge and was surprise to find that it was cold inside and was filled with water and various fruits.

"Looks like someone lives here." Digit said.

_And comes here... often._

Suddenly the lights went out and the room went pitch dark. "WHO DARES TO INVADE THE LAIR OF THE ALL POWERFUL LORD ARCH!"

* * *

"I do not like this idea!" Jackie protested, as she bounced around on her new ride.

"Actually" Inez pointed out, "This is kinda fun."

"Fun?!" Jackie said. She let out a little shout, half from fear and half annoyance as her spider gave another buckle and nearly shook her off its back.

"Come on." Angelica said, shaking the reigns on her spider to quicken its pace. "You want to get their faster don't you?"

"By the way" Inez asked Angelica. "How did you do that? The thing with the screens?"

"What this?" Angelica said lifting her hand. The screen and keypad appeared in mid air just as it had done early. This time, the screen and keypad maintained a steady pace with Angelica's spider. "It's just a little trick of mine. Those numbers were binary code. They're what this whole world ultimately is made up of. If you hack into a site's core, you can change anything on it, tree, plants, animals, landmarks, even cyborgs."

"That's amazing!" Inez said, "So you reprogram this site to do anything!"

"Basically." Angelica pointed ahead, "We should be almost there." she said, "We'll be able to see the Temple at the top of that hill." She pointed at a hill in the distance.

"Have. To. Hurry!" Jackie said still bouncing up and down uncontrollably on her spider. "Almost. Sundown."

"Careful." Angelica teasing warned, "You might bite your tongue."


	6. Discovery

"WHO DARES TO INVADE THE LAIR OF THE ALL POWERFUL LORD ARCH!" a voice boomed.

"M-Motherboard sent us." Digit squeaked. The little cybird hid behind his taller companion and cowered in fright.

"SILENCE!" the voice said, "I CARE NOT WHO SENT THEE! AWAY WITH YOU AT ONCE OR YOU WILL BE FORCED TO FEEL MY WRATH!"

Matt, who had been strangely silent of the last few moments said, "Show us where you are first." All was quiet. The voice did not respond. Suddenly, the monitor on the wall flickered on and a pair of dots appeared over a horizontal line.

"Alright you win." the monitor said. As it spoke, the line moved to imitate a mouth. A "V" appeared above the dots to form an angry expression. "The name's ARCH. That's short for ArchED aka Arch-Enemy Detector."

"Arch-Enemy Detector?" Matt said.

"I prefer ARCH if you don't mind." the monitor said.

"Did Angelica make you?" Matt asked.

"Huh?" Digit looked up at his friend with a puzzled expression.

"I figured that Angelica was the only one living on this island. All along I wondered how she managed to live on this island with the whole place turning inside out at sundown. When we fell down here I realized that if she stayed underground at night, the inside would become the outside and she would be unaffected." Matt explained.

"Angelica, huh?" ARCH said, "Is that what she's calling herself?"

"Who is she really?" Matt asked.

"You mean you haven't figured it out yet?" ARCH chuckled. "You must be the kids who arrived this morning along with those cyborgs." the computer deduced, "So tell me, where are your friends?"

"Who is Angelica?"

"You left them all alone?" ARCH mocked, "That's not very manly of you." The mouth line on the monitor curved to form a smile, although the "V" still remained above the eyes. "You better go find them soon. Or those _friends_ of yours could be in big trouble."

* * *

"Here we are!" Angelica said. They had arrived at the temple. The sun was really starting to set now. Soon it would be dark and the island would turn inside out. Inez guessed that they had about an hour, two at best, to find Hacker and get off the island.

"This is where I leave you." Angelica said suddenly. She brought her spider to a halt and slid off its side.

"Wait! Where are you going?" Inez asked.

"It's almost sundown so I gotta go."

"What?!" Jackie cried. She fell head first off her spider and landed on the ground with a thud.

"I'm sorry." she said, "I really would like to stay and help, but like I said, I really gotta go." She left the spider behind and started heading back the way they had come. After she had gone a few feet, she stopped and turned back to Inez, "I assume you'll keep your end of the deal?" she said.

"Of course." Inez nodded. She had promised that she would take Angelica to Motherboard after they had defeat Hacker and she was willing to commit to that promise.

"Good." Angelica said, "If you do manage to defeat Hacker, I'll come find you." Then she turned and disappeared into the trees leaving the girls to continue the trek toward the temple, hoping they would make it there before sundown.


End file.
